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Funding Rescission Package Heads to Senate

The House this week narrowly approved a Trump administration rescission package to cut more than $15 billion in previously approved funding.

Members voted 210-206 for the cuts that would impact several programs, including affordable housing and development programs that have been proven to benefit low-income residents and promote self-sufficiency.

The plan would cut $41 million from public housing, $23 million from the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, $40 million from USDA’s Rural Rental Assistance program, and $142 million from the Capital Magnet Fund.

The rescission would also impact funding for Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) grants as well as eliminate all Jobs Plus grant funding from Fiscal Year (FY) 2017.

Meanwhile, $7 billion of the proposed reduction in funding was previously approved for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. A portion of those dollars come from the contingency fund, which can be used to cover potential shortfalls because of increased enrollment in the program that currently covers nine million children from low-income families.

Although the Trump administration and those who support the rescission argue that some of the funding has lapsed and can no longer be spent, opponents believe the optimal response would be to reauthorize the money or reallocate it to other programs that benefit the same causes.

The package heads next to the Senate, which must act soon to ensure the funding won’t be frozen for 45 legislative days and cause program disruptions well into the fall.

If approved by both chambers, it would be the largest rescission package in U.S. history. That support, however, will likely spur the introduction of another, even wider-ranging rescission plan that would include cuts from the recently passed FY18 budget, the administration and Congressional leaders have said.

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